Natural killer (NK) cells belong to the family of innate immune cells with the
capacity to recognize and kill tumor cells. Different phenotypes and functional
properties of NK cells have been described in tumor patients, which could be
shaped by the tumor microenvironment. The discovery of HLA class I-specific
inhibitory receptors controlling NK cell activity paved the way to the fundamental
concept of modulating immune responses that are regulated by an array of
inhibitory receptors, and emphasized the importance to explore the potential of
NK cells in cancer therapy. Although a whole range of NK cell-based approaches
are currently being developed, there are still major challenges that need to be
overcome for improved efficacy of these therapies. These include escape of
tumor cells from NK cell recognition due to their expression of inhibitory
molecules, immune suppressive signals of NK cells, reduced NK cell infiltration
of tumors, an immune suppressive micromilieu and limited in vivo persistence of
NK cells. Therefore, this review provides an overview about the NK cell biology,
alterations of NK cell activities, changes in tumor cells and the tumor
microenvironment contributing to immune escape or immune surveillance by
NK cells and their underlyingmolecular mechanisms as well as the current status
and novel aspects of NK cell-based therapeutic strategies including their genetic
engineering and their combination with conventional treatment options to
overcome tumor-mediated evasion strategies and improve therapy efficacy.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa:de:qucosa:87667 |
| Date | 26 October 2023 |
| Creators | Seliger, Barbara, Koehl, Ulrike |
| Publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| Source Sets | Hochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion, doc-type:article, info:eu-repo/semantics/article, doc-type:Text |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | 10.3389/fimmu.2022.910595 |
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